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I loved these stories. ?áRetro/ nostalgic. ?áReminded me of Eleanor Estes The Alley, sort of. ?áAlso, Pushcart Wars and maybe?áRuth Sawyer's?áRoller Skates. ?áOk, those are all set in the same kind of place and time, but they also have much the same vibe. ?áAnd I enjoyed the ones I had access to as a child then, and all of them are now among my favorites.

The thing is, they help us see that even poor working class children, in an urban environment, and even beaten-down adults who remember pogroms and other horrifying stresses, have imaginations and can dream up ideas to make their lives, and their neighbors' lives, more joyful and more beautiful. ?áIn this the stories start out light. ?áThe title story is the first; it's light, even sort of funny. ?áThe second story is about an electric train set (in context, a very special toy), and the third about a horse. ?áThe pogroms show up in the 7th (next-to-last) story, and the very last ends with the end of a life. ?á

The writing is beautiful:

'Mommy, I'm hungry,' she called from the bedroom. 'Can I have hash and eggs and toast with jelly on it and also butter but mostly jelly and some milk?' ?áAnd Mrs. Dunn knew that Cathy was going to be well."

"He... lowered his sight to the tenement windows across the street. ?áThe windows looked warm and good in the night, like pieces of buttered toast that had just popped out of the fire escapes. ?áBut to Samuel [a toy peddlar] they weren't just windows. ?áThey were all the children who followed him in the streets, and their brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers as well."

I don't know how this got on my list, but I'm glad it did. ?áAnd even though it seems the author usually wrote for adults, I will investigate his other works." ( )